Enchanted Challenges
by Otterbot
Summary: My response to the challenge given by MagicianX ... 'Nuff said!


**Title:** Enchanted Challenges  
**Author:** Amber (or Berry, since I know there's another Amber in the HP section...)  
**Disclaimer:** Yeah, we all know this one! Harry Potter and Co. don't belong to me. They belong to JK Rowling, who makes them come to life every night for her and dance a merry little jig. Or not...  
**A/N:** This was written for MagicianX's challenge in the forum! The only guidelines were that the fic had to include this paragraph (with no words changed in it): _Fred and George's mouths were gaping, their eyes wider than anyone else in the room. Snape stood in the doorway, glaring with anger so great he was almost smoking. Harry took an involuntary step back, tripping over the stack of copper pots as he went. Neville cowered behind an armchair, his hair still swaying gently._ I've been waiting for someone to give out a challenge, because I've never done one and thought it sounded interesting, so anyway here's my fanfic! Hope you like it! :oD  
  


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**Enchanted Challenges**

  
  
"Boomslang!" George shouted loudly at the portrait in front of him. The Fat Lady sniffed indignantly, but the portrait swung open nonetheless. Fred paused just long enough to smack his twin before he continued floating a stack of copper pots into the Gryffindor common room.  
  
"Don't _shout_ the password!" he admonished, setting the pots down in the middle of the room. "Any Slytherin within hearing distance will be trying to get in here and spy on us, now!"  
  
There was only a moment of silence in which the twins looked solemnly at each other. However, 'solemn' wasn't a word usually attributed to Fred and George Weasley, and a moment later they were grinning mischievously as they rushed over to their heap of stolen cookware. The common room was filled with people, as this was a weekend, but no more than a handful glanced over to see what was going to happen next. The Weasleys played pranks so often that their antics had become commonplace in the Gryffindor Tower.  
  
On the other side of the room, Hermione was trying to explain to Ron and Neville what electricity was. It wasn't an easy task, especially because neither of them could even _pronounce_ the word correctly. Every so often, Harry would peer over the top of the new Quidditch book he'd gotten for Christmas and correct their pronunciation, but otherwise he kept silent. Ron was about to tell Hermione to sod off when she produced a strange object from the pocket of her robes.  
  
"What's _that?_" he demanded, staring. It almost seemed as though his father had brought one of them home once--Arthur Weasley loved collecting Muggle objects--but he couldn't remember the name of it. Hermione looked smug.  
  
"It's called a light bulb," she informed her two students. "Muggles use these to light their homes. They need electricity to light up, but I _think_ I've figured out how to make them work by just using magic."  
  
"Learned it in one of those books of yours, I'll bet," Ron quipped dryly, at the same time that Neville exclaimed, "Oh, let's see!"  
  
Harry once again peered over the top of his book as Hermione handed the light bulb to Neville. "Okay, just hold it like that," she instructed, making sure his fingers were lightly clasping the metal base of the lightbulb. Idly, Harry wondered if that wasn't a dangerous thing to do. Most Muggles knew that metal conducted electricity...would wizards know? _Doubt it,_ he thought, marking his page and straightening in his chair. He couldn't afford to miss this next lesson. Ron was also leaning forward in his seat, though it was for a different reason than Harry. He wanted to see the bulb light up; he couldn't possibly know that _Neville_ might light up too. _Though if he _did_ know, I'm sure he'd be even more excited..._  
  
Hermione was still murmuring things, this time to herself. Over the noise of the common room, Harry could only make out a few things like "a little different than wand-lighting", "what was that word?", and his favorite, "I'm almost positive this will work..." Once again, he debated on whether or not he should remind her that metal was a conductor of electricity, but Hermione had said herself that the bulb wasn't going to be lit by electricity--it was going to be lit by a magical substitute. And both Ron and Neville looked so excited by this demonstration that Harry couldn't bring himself to disappoint them.  
  
A few minutes later, after Ron tetchily remarked that he was going to grow a beard before he saw the bulb light up, Hermione brought out her wand, pushed up the sleeves of her robe, and shouted, "_Producto navitas!_"  
  
What happened next would go down in Gryffindor history as the weirdest thing anyone had ever seen (besides Professor Moody's magical eye). A bolt of charged light shot out of Hermione's wand and hit the metal base of the bulb, doing exactly as Harry feared it would; the bulb lit up, but that event was hardly noticeable in the brilliant glow cast off by Neville himself. All eyes but those of Fred and George turned in the direction of the glowing boy. The Weasley twins, who had been sorting through their pile of copper pots, were thrown back by the same electric-like force that had Neville lit up like the noonday sun.  
  
"_Nox! Nox!_" Hermione shrieked frantically, trying to make Neville stop glowing. When nothing happened, she began shouting the word and simultaneously hitting the boy with her wand. This produced no more of an effect than the words alone had, save that Ron actually toppled off his seat laughing. Hermione only spared a moment to scowl at him before she went back to fretting. "What was that word! I can't believe I don't know this...ummm..._peractio!_"  
  
Thankfully, the bulb _and_ Neville stopped glowing, and the metal in the room could be touched without throwing off an electric force strong enough to knock a person over. Unfortunately, the hair on Neville's head was still standing on end and every time he moved, the strands would sway gently as though underwater. This caused Ron to double up laughing all over again, but he sobered up after a swift kick from Hermione. Harry hid his grin behind his Quidditch book, and soon after the twins came racing over.  
  
"What was that?" Fred asked eagerly. Simultaneously, George demanded, "Can you teach _us_ how to do that?"  
  
"I...it was a mistake," Hermione told them hastily, stuffing her wand and the light bulb back in the pocket of her robes. "I don't know how I did it."  
  
"Hey, what're you two doing with all that stuff over there?" Ron asked, pointing to the scattered heap of pots as he climbed back into his chair. The twins exchanged a devious glance before they answered.  
  
"From Snape's classroom," George replied. "He had 'em warded--"  
  
"Not very well," Fred added.  
  
"--and of course we had to know what was so special about a bunch of pots if he had to ward them. So we took the wards off and brought 'em up here."  
  
"So what do they do?" Ron persisted.  
  
"Didn't anyone see you?" Hermione asked incredulously.  
  
"I have a headache," Neville moaned pitifully. The twins ignored him in their eagerness to reveal what the copper pots did.  
  
"They're enchanted!" Fred exclaimed. "We don't know what they do yet, but we think Snape's gonna use them as anti-cheating pots..."  
  
"That makes no sense," Hermione scoffed. "How can you _cheat_ in Potions? And how would a _pot_ know if you did?"  
  
"Shut up, Hermione," chorused all three of the Weasley boys. George then continued where Fred left off.  
  
"Of course, it _could_ be something even more important than anti-cheating spells," he stated matter-of-factly. "Maybe it turns anything you put into it into a certain potion...or maybe you don't even have to put anything in it! Maybe you just chant a few words, and the pot fills up on its own!"  
  
"Or _maybe_ they're enchanted to cook for Snape, since I'm sure he wouldn't know how to make his own meals," Ron mused wickedly.  
  
"Can we take a look at them?" Harry inquired, having set down his book at the start of the conversation. At the twins' nod, the group walked over to the pile of shining copper pots, eager to find out what each item of cookware did (though they were privately afraid of laying a finger on the shiny metal, lest they get a nasty shock from the remnants of Hermione's spell). Neville especially kept far back, even though he was just as curious as the rest.  
  
"Hmm," Hermione murmured to herself, "I think George is right; these pots _are_ enchanted to cook food! Of course, we'd have to test it out to know for sure..." Upon hearing this, Neville backed away even farther.  
  
"_You_ can test it out this time, Hermione," Ron declared. "Don't use one of us! I don't want to come out looking like _him!_" He jabbed a finger in Neville's direction. "I don't think I'll _ever_ stop seeing Neville-shaped spots in front of my eyes!"  
  
"I just haven't worked the spell out enough!" Hermione protested indignantly. "And besides, that was much more dangerous than testing these pots would be...all we'd have to do is find out the words used to activate the enchantment, and then--" She was cut off as the portrait was slammed open. The Fat Lady's muffled curses were barely heard above the overwhelming silence that suddenly hummed in the air.  
  
Fred and George's mouths were gaping, their eyes wider than anyone else in the room. Snape stood in the doorway, glaring with anger so great he was almost smoking. Harry took an involuntary step back, tripping over the stack of copper pots as he went. Neville cowered behind an armchair, his hair still swaying gently.  
  
"What are you doing with those?" Snape asked in a low, dangerous tone. As he stepped further into the common room, Harry realized that Snape _was_ smoking. Small streamers of blue-gray smoke rose from his singed black robes; and his lank, greasy hair was looking a little frizzed.  
  
"Hermione, I think your spell went through the whole castle!" Ron whispered, his eyes never leaving the intimidating figure that was Severus Snape. Hermione had the grace to blush.  
  
"Is no one going to answer me?"  
  
"We, uh..." Fred looked around wildly, as though he'd find an excuse somewhere in the room. Suddenly, he pointed to the figure huddled behind the armchair. "Neville did it!"  
  
Neville squeaked in fear and peeped out from behind the chair, only to see Snape sneering at the Weasley twins. "Even if a student hadn't come to tell me that he saw you two stealing things from _my_ classroom, I wouldn't believe you," he hissed. At the mention of another student, Harry's gaze immediately shifted toward the portrait hole. Standing just outside was Draco Malfoy, his silver-blond hair just as wild as Neville's, and his normally perfect robes singed and smoking. Harry would have found the sight immensely funny if it weren't for the anger welling up inside. Draco had been _spying_ on Fred and George! And he must have heard one of them give the password, or else Snape wouldn't have been able to get in the common room.  
  
"Well, it wasn't worth getting all burned up about it," George said innocently. The others quickly hid their grins, especially since the sour-faced professor didn't share in their amusement.  
  
"_This_--" He gestured to his smoking robes. "--is due to a very strong spell that was cast somewhere within the school. I haven't come here to ask about that--though I _will_ find out who did it." Hermione shrank back behind Harry and Ron. "I came here to retrieve my belongings. Fifty points will be taken from Gryffindor thanks to your pilfering, and both of you will see me tomorrow night for detention." With that, Professor Snape gathered up his copper pots with a wave of his wand, floated them out of the portrait hole ahead of him, and stalked out of the common room. As he left, the Gryffindor students barely heard him mutter, "I'm glad you saw who took these, Draco. These pots make the best hooch in all of Hogsmeade."  
  
In the silence that followed, George wiped away an imaginary tear and said mistily, "Would you believe it, Fred? Hogwarts' most eligible professor just asked _us_ for a date! What are we going to wear?"  
  
"I prefer the glowing look," Fred said as they walked upstairs to their room. "Neville sported it so well, why can't we?"  
  
After they had disappeared from view, Hermione turned toward Ron, Harry, and Neville with bright grins. "I think I've figured out what I did wrong with that spell!" she chirped, bringing the light bulb from her pocket again. "Does anyone want to see?"  
  
Within a matter of seconds, Hermione was left standing alone in the Gryffindor common room. She had the feeling that no one would want her tutoring them on Muggle devices ever again.  
  


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Tada! As I said, this was my first time with fanfic challenges, but hopefully it wasn't too bad? Hehehe...and hey, this is my first posted Harry Potter fanfic, too! Wow, two firsts in one night...*wipes a tear away*  
  



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